GAME #34 VANCOUVER GIANTS at VICTORIA ROYALS

GAME NOTES – DECEMBER 16, 2017

GAME #34 –VANCOUVER GIANTS at VICTORIA ROYALS

THE STORY SO FAR – So far through 33 games the Giants are 16-13-2-2. They are 10-6-0-0 on home ice and 6-7-2-2 away from home. The Giants are 5-1 so far in the month of December, and they’ve won four straight games. Last week the Giants earned back-to-back victories against the Portland Winterhawks (Dec. 5, Dec. 8) and then followed that up with a 4-3 overtime victory at home Saturday against Kootenay. The G-Men continued their winning ways with a 3-1 home victory last night over Victoria. Jared Dmytriw, Tyler Benson and James Malm each had two points.

OPPOSITION – The Royals come into tonight’s game with a B.C. Division leading record of 20-12-3-0. They are 11-3-1-0 at home and are coming off back-to-back losses. The Giants are 2-3-0-1 against the Royals this season and are 0-2-0-1 against them in Victoria. Ty Ronning leads all Giants with five goals and two assists against Victoria. Matthew Phillips leads Victoria with six goals and five assists against the Giants.

ONE-TIMERS – Ty Ronning has recorded 23 goals and 11 assists for 34 points in his past 23 games. Tyler Benson has 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points in his last 16 games. David Tendeck has stopped 116 of his last 123 shots faced for a save percentage of .943. Jared Dmytriw recorded his first goal as a Giant in last night’s game and was named the game’s first star. It’s taken the G-Men six fewer games this season to arrive at 16 wins.

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GAME NOTES – DECEMBER 16, 2017 (CONTINUED)

GAME #34 – VANCOUVER GIANTS AT VICTORIA ROYALS

RONNING IS ROLLING- 20-year-old forward Ty Ronning leads the Giants in scoring with 29 goals and 14 assists for 43 points. Ronning was drafted by the New York Rangers in the seventh round of the 2016 NHL Draft. After posting 25 goals and 28 assists for 53 points with the G-Men in 2016-17, Ronning played 12 games in the AHL with the Hartford Wolfpack where he snagged an additional two goals and three assists. On September 8th, 2017 Ronning was named captain of the Rangers prospect team in Traverse City, MI. Ronning has recorded 23 goals and 11 assists for 34 points in his past 23 games and earlier this season he registered an 11-game goal scoring streak 11 which matched the longest goal-scoring streak in the WHL this season (Swift Current Broncos forward Aleksi Heponiemi also went 11 straight games with a goal). Ronning’s 11-game goal streak was the longest ever in franchise history.

BENSON RETURNS – On October 23rd, Giants captain Tyler Benson was returned to the team from the Edmonton Oilers. In his first game back with the Giants he scored a goal in a 2-1 loss at home to Prince George on October 27th. Through 20 games this season Benson has scored 13 goals while adding 18 assists for 31 points. He’s recorded a multi-point game in nine of his past 14 games. Last week, Benson was named the Giants Player of the Month for November after posting eight goals and 12 assists for 20 points in 12 November games.

THREE GIANTS MAKE THE LIST – Last month NHL Central Scouting released their November Players to Watch List for the 2018 NHL Draft and three Giants made the list. Up front forward Milos Roman received a ‘B’ ranking while goaltenders Todd Scott and David Tendeck cracked the list with ‘C’ rankings. Milos Roman was selected sixth overall in the CHL Import Draft and represented Slovakia at the 2017 World Juniors. He leads all WHL rookies in scoring with eight goals and 21 assists for 29 points. Todd Scott signed with the Giants in June 2017. He’s 5-7-2-1 with a 4.10 GAA and an .875 save percentage. David Tendeck is currently enjoying his second season with the Giants and has gone 11-6-0-1 with a 3.06 GAA and a .907 save percentage. He recorded his first ever WHL shutout last weekend in a 1-0 victory over Portland.

BO KNOWS – 16-year-old defenceman Bowen Byram is ready for prime time. The Cranbrook, B.C. native is third in team scoring among defencemen with a goal and 10 assists for 11 points. The third overall pick from the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft appeared in 11 games a season ago for the Giants as an under-ager. He registered his first ever WHL goal, a game winner, on Saturday, October 21st in Regina against the Pats. Byram was named the Giants Academic Player of the Month for October. Earlier this month Byram helped lead Team Canada Red to a Silver Medal at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge which took place in Fort St. John and Dawson Creek B.C. For the tournament, Byram had a goal and four assists for five points in six games. He was named a tournament all-star.

ROMAN EMPIRE – With the sixth overall selection in the 2017 CHL Import Draft, the Giants selected 1999-born forward Milos Roman. Roman spent the 2016/17 season with HC Frydek-Mistek in the second tier of professional hockey in the Czech Republic. Roman has represented his country at multiple tournaments. He scored a goal and an assist in four games for Slovakia at the 2017 World Junior Championships. He also had two points in five games at the 2017 Under-18 World Championships and tallied five points in four games at the 2016 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup. Roman has eight goals and 21 assists for 29 points in 33 games which leads all WHL rookies in scoring. Earlier this week Roman was named to the 2018 Sherwin-Williams CHL/NHL Top Prospect’s Game. He becomes the 12th Giant to be named to that event. He’s currently attending Slovakia’s World Junior Camp.